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UNIVSC 22
The Universal Song Contest #22 is the the 22nd edition of the annual Universal Song Contest, organised by the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), and the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU). It's being held in the South-Korean capital city, Seoul on August 19-30, 2019 at the Seoul Olympic Stadium. It was the second time that the contest was held in South Korea, after the fifteenth edition. As of 4 June 2019, ninety-eight countries are taking part in the contest and the other countries are still yet to confirm, with Macau debuting to the contest while the Åland Islands returns for the first time since the sixteenth edition, Belize, Bulgaria, Chile, Czechia, Greenland, Guatemala, Moldova, Monaco, Paraguay, San Marino, and Slovakia after withdrawing last edition. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jamaica, Kosovo, Pakistan, Qatar, Taiwan after being absent for two editions, while Aruba, Ecuador, Fiji, Georgia, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Saint Lucia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tanzania, Venezuela and Zambia withdrawing from the contest. Brunei is banned from the contest since this edition by their disagreement with the countries' LGBT artist(s) and replacing the countries' performances to commercials in Arlington and Paris. The bruneian people who voted for the artists were arrested, they were warned by the WBU before they did the same thing in the final in Paris. Last edition the winner was SUMNI, who represented South Korea with the song "Heroine". South Korea won the Universal Song Contest for the second time. The Philippines came second, their seventh runner-up placing at the contest, while Trinidad and Tobago placed third. New submission rules ''' In 13 June 2019 it was decided to change the submission rules, the artist must be related by it's country. For example if they're from the United States, they can represent a country that has English as their first official language, or neighboring countries. The troll songs are still yet to be decided. '''Location The twenty-second contest will take place in South Korea for the second time, following the country's victory at the twenty-first edition with the song "Heroine", performed by SUMNI. Venue The contest will take place at Seoul Olympic Stadium, a sport and entertainment stadium with a capacity of 100,000 in the main arena. It is considered one of the largest entertainment and sports halls in South Korea. Bidding phase and host city selection Prior to the South Korean confirmation, fourteen other countries had announced their intentions to host the event. These bids were from, Azerbaijan, China, Colombia, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, Norway, Qatar, Russia, Spain, Turkey, and United States. On 21 April 2019, it was confirmed by the In WBU that South Korea would host the twenty-second contest. On 24 April 2019, during the press conference held by KBS and the WBU, it was confirmed that the contest would be held in the capital city of South Korea, Seoul. This will be the second time since the twenty-first contest that the event is hosted by a country's capital. Semi-Finalists It has been confirmed that there will be 5 qualifiers each semi-final. Eurovision & UNIVSC 14 countries in Europe has confirmed to continue their journey by sending a song that has been to Eurovision. Incidents Icelandic representative controversy In 3 June 2019, the Icelandic representative Hatari (and Bashar Murad) got disqualified by bringing politics to the Universal Song Contest which is against the rules. WBU warned them to change the song or they will disqualify from the contest, Hatari ignored the WBU. Before they got disqualified were the internet users petitioning to change the artists cause of political issues, in 1 June 2019 held WBU a vote whether Iceland should change the artists or the songs, or keep the song. There were 94 out of 98 countries that voted to change the artists, the other 4 countries that voted to keep the song were Egypt, Iraq, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. RÚV were told by the WBU to hold an national final or result a disqualification. The national final will be held. Sudanese withdrawal In 4 June 2019, Sudan TV confirmed their possibility withdrawal in Seoul while the country is in huge crisis. The WBU executive supervisor Ryan Murphy were asked in an interview about the Sudanese possibility withdrawal, Ryan Murphy responded "they could withdraw anytime, I want them to stay safe.", many broadcasters are supporting Sudan while in a crisis. In 8 June 2019, Sudan TV announced their withdrawal from the contest. WBU has been told by Sudan TV that they will return "if the crisis is over". Returning Artists Ava Max, representing Albania, has represented Northern Ireland twenty edition with her song "Sweet but Psycho" placing 12th in the semi-final, failing to qualify. Now she has returned with her song "So Am I". AWS, representing Hungary, has represented the country last edition in Paris with their song "Viszlát nýar" placing 7th with 466 points in the final. Now they have returned with their song "Hol voltál?" Dua Lipa, representing Kosovo, has represented Albania last edition with her song "New Rules" placing 6th with 510 points in the final. Now she has returned and her song is yet to be revealed. Eleni Foureira, representing Cyprus, has represented the country three editions ago with her song "Fuego" placing 14th with 409 points in the final. Now she has returned with her song "Tómame" Kamshat Zholdybaeva, representing Kazakhstan, has represent the country four editions ago in Reykjavík, Iceland with her song "Padisha" placing 15th with 146 points in the final. Now she has returned with her song "Layk basa ber". Lewis Capaldi, representing Scotland, has represented the country last edition in Paris with his song "Someone You Loved" placing 4th with 556 points in the final. Now he has returned with his song "Hold Me While You Wait". MARUV, representing Ukraine, has represented the country last edition in Paris with her song "Siren Song" placing 16th with 378 points in the final. Now she has returned with her song "Focus On Me". Nicki Minaj, representing Trinidad and Tobago, has represented the country two editions ago in the Philippines with her song "Super Bass" placing 15th with 404 points in the final. Now she has returned with her song "Roman Holiday". Srbuk, representing Armenia, has represented the country last edition in Paris with her song "Walking Out" placing 21st with 342 points in the final. Now she has returned and her song is yet to be revealed. Confirmed countries Finalists